The Panchatantra (IAST: PaÃ±catantra, Sanskrit: à¤ªà¤à¥à¤à¤¤à¤¨à¥à¤¤à¥à¤°, 'Five Principles') is an ancient Indian collection of animal fables in verse and prose, in a frame story format. The original Sanskrit work, which some scholars believe was composed in the 3rd century BCE, is attributed to Vishnu Sharma. However, it is based on older oral traditions, including "animal fables that are as old as we are able to imagine". It is "certainly the most frequently translated literary product of India", an...